


Together

by tsunamijenn



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: ...but not really..., Attempted Kidnapping, Fluff, Fluff Bang, Growing Up Together, Light Angst, M/M, Multiple Abilities, Soulmate AU, Soulmate abilities, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-10-10
Packaged: 2020-11-27 08:23:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20945285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsunamijenn/pseuds/tsunamijenn
Summary: soulmate/ˈsōl ˌmāt/nounnoun:soulmatea person ideally suited to another as a close friend or romantic partner.This is a story of one such pair of soulmates, trying to navigate the ups and downs of the world and learning what it truly means to be connected so closely to someone.





	1. How it all began

**Author's Note:**

> So I signed up for the fluff bang earlier this year, but had multiple artists just ghost on me, so for a while, I hated this story. I thought there was something wrong with me and/or my writing since I'd introduce myself and my story, and then a couple days or weeks later, they would just stop responding...especially when I saw them actively working and posting things for other people's works in the bang. This sat in my docs and got buried in the abyss of me trying to write other things.
> 
> Then I stopped writing everything, because of my impending move to Japan. My life has been frantic as we try to get all the paperwork organized, house packed, cars sold/stored, house put on the market to be rented, etc etc etc. Also a trip to Disney World and Universal Studios. Didn't do shit during that time except be a big kid and spend probably too much money.
> 
> But I've slowly been finding time to write. I did a poly one shot to change things up for my brain, and as I started having a bit more time to write my other main stories I have going on right now, I came back to this, and decided 'fuck it'. I liked the idea, and don't *need* accompanying artwork to post it. So here. I hope you enjoy!

The first recorded soulmate of modern times was only a decade ago. It's not that people were scared of the concept. In fact, most everyone desired a soulmate; their perfect other half, be it romantic or platonic. It had been whispered and discussed in the privacy of family homes for years. In centuries past, it was usually more openly acknowledged. But as society moved from spirituality as its cornerstone to being technologically and scientifically focused, no one wanted to be a guinea pig. No one wanted to be tested upon to see what limits a soulmate bond had. And since the chances of having a soulmate was completely arbitrary, and the number of people with soulmates greatly fluctuated from year to year, knowledge on the topic was grossly lacking. What was understood was that whatever happened to you would happen to some equal or lesser degree to your soulmate. Marks and ink on your skin showed up on your soulmate. Serious injuries caused throbbing pain in the same place on your soulmate. But no one wanted to be the scumbag that tried more and indirectly inflicted any level of suffering on someone so special.

Because of this, many attributes of soulmates that used to be common knowledge have been lost to time.

* * *

** _Ages: 4/0_ **

_ Saint Petersburg, Russia _

At 4 years old, Victor Nikiforov had his first scare with pain from an unknown source. He was sitting, coloring in his books, when a stabbing sensation pierced his right thigh. Startled by the sudden unpleasant feeling, he burst into tears and raced to find his mom.

“Мама! Мама!”

Asya Nikiforov quickly set down the knife she was using to prepare dinner and reached down to pick up her wailing toddler.

“Vitya, baby, what’s the matter?”

“It hurts мама, it hurts!”

“What hurts honey?”

Victor pointed to his leg and continued to sob.

“It was a painful poke! Like a shot! But I hasn’t gotten any shots!”

“Let me see, Vitya.”

Asya moved the skin on Victor’s leg, noticing a small red mark around where Victor had indicated the pain came from.

“And it’s ‘I _ haven’t _ gotten any shots’. Do you still feel the pain?”

“No мама. But why did that happen?”

“I don’t know baby,” she sighed. “But let me know if you feel it again, ok?”

Victor sniffled and mumbled “I will, мама,” into Asya’s neck. He looked up to the counter and began to ask “What are you mak-” before bursting into tears again and clutching at his other leg.

“Мама, мама, it happened again! But in the other leg! What is happening to me, мама?”

Asya quickly shifted Victor to her other hip and looked at his other leg and noticed a similar tiny red mark.

“I’m not sure Vitya, but would it make you feel better if I took you to the doctor to make sure everything was ok?”

Victor whimpered a quiet, “Yes please!”

* * * * *

_ Международная клиника МЕДСИ/International Clinic Medsi - Saint Petersburg, Russia _

Victor was trying his hardest not to fidget. He had been poked and prodded, had blood drawn, and had his nose, mouth, and ears looked into. He didn't know what else could possibly be done, but he sat as still as he could while the doctor ran test after test.

The doctor performed a basic battery of tests. “He said it felt like shots, correct? And there were little red marks around where he felt the pain?” Asya nodded her head in confirmation. “Well, I've done a basic battery of every non-invasive test I could think of, but everything has come back negative. Before we even think about doing anything more invasive, may I try something a bit...different?” Victor flinched, and Anya took a small step towards her son. The doctor noticed their sudden wariness. “It's nothing serious, I promise. I just want to draw something on his right hand. Is that alright with both of you?”

Victor looked to his mother, who just shrugged her shoulders. He turned back to the doctor and held out his right hand.

“What are you going to draw on me?”

“It's a symbol commonly referred to as the World Triad,” the doctor said as he grabbed an ink pen off his desk. “It almost looks like the Yin Yang symbol, but instead of two teardrop shapes, it has three.” The doctor hummed quietly as he drew the design on the back of Victor’s hand. “Like so.”

Victor and Asya started intently at simple design. Suddenly, Asya’s eyes suddenly lit up in clarity.

“You...you think my Vitya…might...?”

“Yes, that's my best theory about what happened, without proof of anything else physically wrong with him. And while this test isn't 100% foolproof, it's the best I can do for you for now.” As the doctor finished, he capped his pen and sat down in front of Victor. “Now Victor, what I want you to do next is to sit with both of your hands on your knees, palms down. Can you do that?” Victor nodded and moved his hands to where the doctor asked. “Ok, good. Now I'm going to go double check on a couple of things in my office, but have one of the nurses come get me if you see or feel anything. Can you do that for me?” 

Once Victor agreed, the doctor typed a few more notes into the computer, then left the room, quietly shutting the door behind him.

Asya sat in silence, considering the possibilities that might lie in her son's future. Victor sat and stared at his hands. Only a few minutes had passed when Victor's whole body tensed. 

“Мама, my left hand feels funny.”

Asya rushed over and grabbed Victor’s hand, turning and touching it, seeing if there were any new marks.

“Can you describe what you're feeling Vitya?”

“I...I feel pressure again, but it's not like the pressure I felt on my legs. It feels like when the doctor drew on my right hand. Like something is moving across my hand.”

“Well, let's watch and see if anything happens. You'll tell me if it goes from feeling funny to hurting, won't you?”

Victor bobbed his head up and down, solemnly. “I promise I will.”

After a few seconds, a black mark slowly appeared on Victor's left hand. Victor watched with childlike curiosity, but Asya gasped and brought a shaking hand to her heart. As the line began to take a more distinct shape, Victor realized it was the same design that was on his right hand.

“Мама, what's going on? How did that happen? How did that just show up? What's happening to me? Мама!”

Asya looked down at Victor, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “Everything is going to be alright, sweetie, I promise. But I need to get the doctor, ok? I'll be back in just a minute.”

“O-Oh, ok мама.”

Asya rushed out of the room, calling out for a nurse. She soon returned with the doctor in tow. Victor held his hand out to the doctor. The doctor took a quick look at Victor’s hand before moving to his desk. He got on his computer and did a bit of typing on the internet, before humming in satisfaction and grabbing his pen yet again.

Victor looked back and forth between his mom and the doctor. “Um...what’s going on?”

The doctor just reached his hand out and asked, “Victor, may I see your right arm please?”

Victor frowned, upset about having his question ignored, but held out his arm. The doctor quickly scribbled down several numbers, letters, and symbols.

59°57’0”N, 30°19’0.0114”E

25/12/1988

Once he was done writing, he grabbed his computer screen and turned it so Victor could see. On the screen was a picture of the earth, the globe spinning slowly.

“See the first set of numbers I wrote on your arm? Now look at the screen. See how there are lines that go up and down and side to side, all around the globe. It's a geographic coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, with each line representing a number. Does that make sense?”

Victor’s forehead scrunched in contemplation. “Uh, I think so.” He glanced back and forth between the screen and his arm. “So what is this number?”

“Look for yourself. If I put in the number I wrote on you...” the doctor quickly typed as he spoke. As Victor watched the screen, the view started to zoom in. “Here, see? It shows Saint Petersburg, where you are right now.”

“Wow, that’s really cool!” Victor glanced back down and poked at his arm. “What's this other set of numbers and lines?”

Asya laughed at her son. “That's your birthday, silly. 25 is the day of the month you were born on, the 12 is the month you were born in, December, and 1988 is the year you were born. The slash lines just separate the day, month, and year.”

The doctor nodded in agreement. “Exactly. Now, I want you to hold out your left arm, and tell me if you start to feel the same strange pressure that you felt earlier on your left hand. Can you do that for me?”

“Uh-huh!”

Victor sat in silent concentration. After a few minutes, his eyebrows shot up and his eyes grew wide.

“I feel it!”

The doctor quickly pulled out a pen and paper and wrote down what was suddenly appearing on Victor’s right arm.

32°34’49.803”N, 131°40’3.9144”E

29/11/1992

Victor cocked his head in confusion. “My hand had the same thing show up. Why is my arm different? The numbers are different. What's going on?”

After writing everything down, the doctor rolled his chair back to the computer.

“Remember how I said the numbers specify a place on earth?” The doctor turned back to his computer and started typing in the new numbers that had appeared on Victor’s arm. “Well, these numbers represent a place in...Japan called...Hasetsu. See, right here on the map. And these numbers? They are today's date. Victor, I'm pleased to tell you there is absolutely nothing wrong with your health. The strange things that have been happening to you today are because you have a soulmate, and they were just born today.”

Victor stared at the doctor, bewildered by his sudden enthusiasm.

“A soulmate? What's that mean?”

“It means that for whatever reason, god or the universe or some higher power created a person that is perfect for you. Your other half.”

Victor continued to stare at the doctor blankly.

“...I don't get it.”

Asya snorted at Victor's confusion. She walked over to the examination table and sat down next to her son.

“Vitya, dear. You know how your мама loves your папа?”

Victor's eyes lit up and he smiled.

“Yes! Youмама and папа love each other a lot!”

“Well, it took us many years to find each other and to fall in love.” Asya reached out to hold Victor's hands. “But with you, you don’t have to spend time searching. Whoever this baby is that was just born, they will be your very own special person. You don't have to be married, like мама and папа; you could be very best friends. It will be your choice. But either way, whoever this person is, they will be very important to you. Does that make sense?”

“Someone will love me the same way папа loves you?”

Asya shook her head back and forth.

“I can't say for sure sweetheart. No one can. Like I said, you don't have to be married like me. Remember that you and your soulmate are different people from me and your папа. You will show your love in your own special way. Especially your soulmate. You have to remember that since they'll grow up in a different country, they’ll grow up with different rules and customs. But you will still be close and care for each other.”

“I like having a soulmate!” Victor exclaimed while turning to hug his mom. Once he let go, he turned back to the doctor “Can I know more about them?”

Asya looked towards the doctor, who shrugged.

“I don't know. I can try to ask, but you have to remember Victor, your soulmate was just born. Their parents will want some time to bond with their new baby, so we might not get a response right away. It's entirely up to them to respond.”

Victor nodded solemnly. “I understand.”

“Well, Victor, what do you want to know?” the doctor pulled his pen out again. “I have to write it on you, so I won't be able to ask every question you have. Let's say you pick your top three most important questions. How does that sound?”

Victor rubbed at the back of his hands and arms.

“Why do you keep writing on me?”

The doctor put his pen down and rolled his chair so that he was sitting directly in front of Victor.

“Do you know anything about soulmates?”

“No,” Victor said while shaking his head. “I've never heard of it till now.”

“Well, I'm sure your mom will tell you more, but not a lot is known about soulmates. What we do know for sure is that if something happens to you, it happens to your soulmate. So if you draw something on yourself, the same thing will show up on your soulmate.

Victor's eyes grew wide.

“Really?!”

“Really. Remember how you said the pressure on your left arm and hand felt like what I did to your right arm and hand? And then the drawing and writing appeared? What you felt and saw was the result of someone writing on your soulmate.

Victor looked down at his left limb again in awe.

“Wow…”

“And before, when you were at home, and felt the painful pokes in your legs?”

Victor’s smile dropped slightly at the memory.

“If your soulmate was just born today, and if their procedures are anything like ours, my educated guess would be those were newborn shots. You obviously didn't get a shot yourself, but you felt the pain of the needle as your soulmate got their shots. Since there were two, I’d guess the Hepatitis B vaccine and a Vitamin K shot.”

Victor opened his mouth to ask more questions, but Asya spoke first.

“What do we do now? How can we communicate if we speak different languages? How will Victor be able to ask questions?”

“While it doesn't happen to many of us, all doctors are required to learn a set of symbols to help our patients identify and get basic information about their soulmates. The World Triad on the left hand is one. Using that form of coordinates to give our location is another. Symbols don't require the same language; they just require knowledge of what they stand for.

“As for what you do now, I'd say Victor is at a good age to start learning a new language. Of course I would suggest Japanese, but it can be a difficult language from what I've heard. Let him try, but also look into English. I'm sure Russian won't be easy for his soulmate to learn either, and English will get them by almost anywhere in the world. It'll be a good common language to have between them.”

The doctor clapped his hands then rubbed them together a couple of times.

“Now Victor, have you thought of the three questions you wanted to ask about your soulmate?”

Victor's face was scrunched in concentration. After a few moments, he bounced in place, face lit up in excitement. 

“Yes! I would like to know their name, if they're a boy or a girl, and...an email address, so their parents can send me pictures of my soulmate!”

Victor thrust his arm out, and both the doctor and Asya laughed at his enthusiasm. The doctor grabbed a camera and some wipes.

“Now hold on, just a second. I want to take a picture of your arms before I clean everything off so I have more room to write. I'll give you the picture.” The doctor turned to face Asya. “I would recommend a notebook or scrapbook of some sort for Victor to write in and store pictures in, that way the information you get from his soulmate will always be available.”

The doctor waved the Polaroid in the air, before turning it over and writing the time, date, and a brief description of the day’s events. The doctor handed Asya the picture, as well as a piece of paper and a pen, “for your email address.” As Asya wrote, the doctor pulled out a wipe and cleaned the ink off Victor's right arm. Once it was clear of any previous marks and dried, the doctor began writing and drawing Victor's information.

Виктор Никифоров

Victor Nikiforov

♂

a.nikiforov@mail.ru

📷 ?

Victor looked at his arm, twisting and turning to see everything.

“What did you write?”

The doctor held Victor's arm and pointed to each line as he spoke.

“This first line is your name, written in Russian. The second is your name in English, so hopefully your soulmate’s family can read it. The third is the symbol used for males, to show that you're a boy. That is your mom's email address, if their family would like to contact yours. And finally, the camera with the question mark is asking if they're alright with sending pictures.”

Victor started to quiver in excitement as his eyes switched to staring at his left arm.

“Remember, this has been a long day for your soulmate’s family. I don't know if you'll get a response anytime soon, but you're more than welcome to sit here and wait for a bit, in case they-”

“LOOK!”

All three sets of eyes snapped to Victor's left arm as the markings slowly vanished. After a tense minute, Victor began to giggle and chant “I feel them writing!” over and over. The doctor grabbed his camera, and waited till the writing stopped.

勝生 勇利

Yuuri Katsuki

♂

katsuki_h@softbank.ne.jp

📷 ✓ →

The flash of the camera snapped Victor out of his stare.

“They wrote an email. Does that mean I can have pictures?!”

“Soon Victor,” the doctor answered. “Soon. The check mark means they're willing to send pictures, but the arrow forward means they'll do it in the future, not now. Can you be patient until then?”

Victor jumped up and threw his hands in the air.

“Yes!”

* * * * *

_ 唐津赤十字病院/Karatsu Red Cross Hospital - Karatsu, Saga, Japan _

Yuuri began to whimper, so Hiroko pulled her newborn bundle of joy closer. She was overjoyed knowing her son had a soulmate out there, waiting for him, and that his soulmate wasn't a lot older than her son.

But she didn't appreciate the fact that she couldn't nap for any decent amount of time, since the writing woke Yuuri, and therefore her, up every time.

She looked at Yuuri's arms, but saw nothing. She quickly began to pull up the rest of his clothes until she saw writing very slowly appear on his right leg.

“Toshiya, Mari, come look! It's in English!” Hiroko looked at the wobbly, uncertain writing. “Anata, can you read it? My English reading skills are rusty, and the handwriting isn't very clear.”

Toshiya scanned the words before speaking aloud.

“There are a couple of weird spots where I think there was a bad translation, but it says ‘Hi, my name is Victor Nikiforov. I am 4 years old, almost 5. I only know Russian, so I had to use computer to translating into English. Mama said to email from now on, so I don't wake baby Yuuri. I try Japanese, but the letters are confusing. I hope I write everything properly. Thank you for making me Yuuri.’”

Toshiya smiled down at his family.

“This Victor appears to be quite a polite young boy. I'm glad Yuuri's soulmate seems so kind. And it's nice to see his mother is thinking about preserving what little sleep you'll be getting.”

Hiroko smiled and weakly chuckled, before closing her eyes and instantly falling asleep again. Toshiya gently picked up Yuuri, cooing to him to stop his small cries, and silently ushered Mari out of the room.


	2. Things start getting messy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Victor and Yuuri grow older, their soulmate bond develops and becomes stronger and more varied in it's abilities.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm not sure what exactly warrants a trigger warning and what does not, and while nothing actually ends up happening, just to be on the safe side, I'm putting a potential trigger warning out now. I've added "attempted kidnapping" to the tags to give you a very general idea of what happens, but if you want slightly more detail, see the end notes.

** _4 -> 9/0 -> 5_ **

The next few years were filled with emails and phone calls back and forth between the Nikiforov and Katsuki households - scheduled appointments, explanations of sudden injuries, and inquiries about general wellbeing.

The Nikiforovs were thankful to have the older member of the soulmate pair. As much as feeling the pain of something that didn't happen to you was miserable, Victor was at least old enough to have a basic understanding of why it was happening. He could prepare himself if he knew something would happen ahead of time.

Baby Yuuri was not so lucky. There was no way for his toddler brain to comprehend the sudden pain of an accidentally scraped up knee that was not his or a stab from a bee that didn't sting his skin. The only thing the Katsukis could do was distract Yuuri if it was something pre-planned, and try to soothe him when it wasn't.

Victor took it upon himself to be the best and most caring soulmate ever. He signed up for a library card so that he could check out any book that discussed soulmates. He had his mother take pictures of almost anything that happened to his body that was soulmate related. He doodled flowers, hearts, suns, and other happy things on his skin whenever something happened to either of them. And after a couple years, wobbly, simple designs began to appear back. The first time a smiley face had appeared on his arm, Victor had demanded hundreds of pictures be taken to remember the moment. Asya only took a few, to Victor's annoyance.

Victor also threw himself into his foreign language studies. Hiroko had emailed Asya to tell her that Yuuri would grow up with both English and Japanese, since English was most useful when it came to interacting with foreign guests at the onsen.

Once Yuuri was old enough to have a basic grasp of writing, marks on bodies slowly began to replace the other forms of communication. Their parents still kept in touch and talked about things the boys struggled to write, but the ability to have secret conversations was too enticing for Victor and Yuuri. Asya even bought Victor his own camera so he could take pictures of anything from their private conversations. It was impressive how much of his room was already full of stored pictures and scraps of paper.

* * * * *

_ Saint Petersburg, Russia _

Everything was going well until one morning, Victor woke with a shout, and immediately began sobbing. Asya rushed into Victor's room and tried to calm her hysterical son.

“Vitya? Victor! What's wrong baby?!”

“Y-Yuuri! He...he f-f-fell! H-He was _ p-pushed _ ! On _ ice _! A-And it h-hurt our knees! I saw it мама, I-I saw it! They were a-at an ice rink, a-and I couldn't understand them, b-b-because they were talking in Japanese, but I heard a girl c-call the bully T-T-Takeshi...I think. I don't like him! He's mean to m-my Yuuri!”

“Victor, Victor, slow down.” Asya quickly pulled Victor into her arms and murmured feel-good nonsense to calm the boy down. “What do you mean you saw? Are you sure it wasn't just a bad dream?”

Victor did his best to glare up as if he were insulted by his mother’s disbelief. The seriousness of his expression was ruined by the tears and snot running down his face.

“I'm sure мама! L-Look, my knees are red from where Yuuri landed on the ice!”

Asya looked down and saw that Victor's knees were indeed red. But to know exactly what happened? There was only one way to find out. She picked Victor up and carried him downstairs into the kitchen, pulled out two ice packs from the freezer, then sat him on a chair.

“Here, Vitya. Sit with these on your knees to help with the pain. I’m going to call Mrs. Katsuki for you and make sure Yuuri is ok, alright? Can you sit here and wait for me please?”

Victor swiped and his eyes and nose, hiccuping and coughing as he tried to settle down. He blearily looked up at his mom and nodded. Asya handed over the veggies, made sure Victor was settled and would actually follow what she said, then quickly walked to the nearest phone.

* * * * *

Hiroko took a deep, calming breath. Not only was she the only one home at the moment to try and calm down Yuuri after the bullying incident at Ice Castle, but now the phone was ringing. Incessantly. At first she ignored it, assuming whoever was calling would leave a voicemail if it were important. But the phone kept ringing and ringing. And the high pitched noise was not helping calm her still weeping child.

Hiroko scowled at the phone. “Kuso…”

She rolled her eyes and stomped over to silence the ringing.

“Yes? Hello?”

“Hiroko? It’s Asya. I’m sorry if I’ve called at a bad time. You sound frustrated. Should I call back later?”

“No, sorry. It’s just been a rough morning. Yuuri was skating with one of his new friends at the ice rink, and another boy that was there purposely skated into him and pushed him over. He fell and scraped his knees, even through his pants, and has been inconsolable ever since.”

As if to prove her point, Yuuri started crying louder in the background.

“So I can hear. How long ago did this happen? About 30 minutes ago? Was the boy that pushed Yuuri over named Takeshi?”

“Yes, but...how did you know that? I mean, I know Victor probably had some issues show up with his knees, given the severity of what happened to Yuuri...but how did you know Takeshi-kun’s name?”

“Victor said he dreamed it. He said he was asleep, but said he saw and heard what happened, but couldn’t understand anything except that name. And when the pain started to set in, it woke him up, and he’s been crying and whimpering ever since. I was just calling to ask if what he said was true, but you just answered that question for me.”

“So...what happened? How did he see it? Was it like he was watching everything from an outside perspective, or was it like he was in Yuuri’s place?”

“Hold on a minute. I call him over so I don’t have to be constantly yelling into the next room.” Asya pulled the receiver away from her face and covered it with her hand before yelling “Vitya! Could you come here please?”

Little footsteps echoed as Victor came running over.

“What is it, мама?”

“You said you saw Yuuri getting pushed around. How were you watching it? Were you watching like you were standing off to the side, or was it like you were watching through Yuuri’s eyes?”

“Like I was watching through Yuuri’s eyes. It was really weird.”

Asya put the phone back to her ear. “Did you hear that Hiroko?”

“I did. Can you hold the phone out to Victor so he can hear me too?”

Asya responded with a quick “Sure,” before holding the phone between herself and Victor, her palm covering the microphone.

“Victor, I'm going to need you to listen closely, ok? Yuuri's mom wants to ask you some questions. Will you answer them for us?” Victor nodded then stared at the phone. Asya called out, “Ok, Hiroko, he's listening.”

“Hi Victor. I'm sorry to bother you, but I wanted to ask you something. Do you remember any details from your dream? Do you remember what Yuuri or anyone else was wearing? Were you able to look around and see?”

“I wasn’t doing anything. I couldn’t control what happened or where I was looking. I was just...watching. Ummm...I remember he was wearing his favorite blue and beige sweatshirt with the big ‘Y’ on the front. I noticed when Yuuri glanced down real quick. Oh! And the girl that was there was in all black with a pink vest. I couldn't understand the Japanese words, but she seemed to be yelling at the bully. I like her. I don't remember what the bully was wearing. I was too angry at that point and all I wanted to do was make sure Yuuri was ok, but I couldn't do anything. I felt like such a bad soulmate for not being able to help him! And then the pain started getting worse, and I woke up.”

Victor could hear a quiet gasp over the phone, then nothing but Yuuri's crying. After several moments, Victor looked up at Asya with watery eyes.

“Мама, I didn't say something wrong, did I? Why is Mama Katsuki so quiet?”

Eventually, Asya put the phone back to her ear and called Hiroko's name several times before she finally got a response.

“O-Oh...my god. That's...that's _ exactly _ what Yuuri was wearing. It was his first time trying ice skating, and he insisted on wearing it. And the girl, Yuuko-chan, that's what she was wearing today as well. H-How? How is that possible? How did he know?”

“Honestly, I have no idea. I don't know what you've been told by your doctors, but ours have straight up said they don't know in what ways, or how much, soulmates can interact. If their physical bodies are so intimately connected, would it really be a stretch to say that their senses could be as well?”

“I...I suppose not. I'm definitely going to make a note of this, and ask Yuuri about it...later...once he's calmed down.”

Almost as if he knew what was being said, Victor promptly stated “I'm going to go cheer up my soulmate”, and dashed away towards his room.

*****

Asya poked her head into Victor's room later that night before going to bed. Victor was wide awake and scribbling all over his skin. Every now and then he'd focus on reading something, then laugh.

The next morning, she woke up to an email from Hiroko, telling her to thank Victor, because whatever he had written all over his body had almost instantly cheered her previously inconsolable child.

*****

A couple months later, Asya darted into Victor's room upon hearing him screaming. His eyes were glazed over, and he was cradling his left wrist, sobbing about Yuuri falling on the ice and hurting his wrist. Asya tried to calm Victor down, but he seemed unresponsive to her voice. After a quick phone call to the Katsuki's, she rushed back into Victor's room. She sat with him first several more minutes, trying to get a response, but Victor only seemed to be calling out to Yuuri.

Then, in an instant, his eyes cleared, and he blinked as he took in his surroundings. When he was able to focus on his mom, he flung himself into her arms, crying about how Yuuri had been alone on the ice and had fallen, and was in too much pain to push himself up and skate off the ice. But once he saw an adult run out onto the ice and help Yuuri stand and skate off, he stopped being able to see through Yuuri.

Once Victor had calmed down and his wrist wasn't in as much pain, she tucked him into bed to take a nap. After, she called Hiroko and explained what had happened this time. Hiroko confirmed that Yuuri had fallen when no one was around, and had laid on the ice until it had started to melt and soak into his pants. His wrist had a minor sprain, but other than that, he was just fine.

*****

Mari rubbed her eyes as something pulled her from her sleep. She glanced around her room, but noticed nothing amiss. She focused on her other senses, and froze when she heard muffled whimpers and cries. Quickly pulling on a robe and her slippers, she shuffled out of her room, and focused again on finding the sound. Taking a few steps down the hall, she found herself in front of Yuuri's door.

Slowly opening the door, she was greeted to the sight of Yuuri kneeling on his bed, arms outstretched, and eyes glazed over. She rushed to his bedside and tried to shake Yuuri into consciousness. After a few seconds, Yuuri's sounds turned into him crying out, “Victor! Victor! Victor!” Over and over, he called out for his soulmate.

Mari turned to go grab their parents, but Yuuri suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist. Looking back, Mari noticed that the haziness in Yuuri's right eye had cleared, and seemed to be silently pleading with her. His mouth opened and closed as he tried to say something, but no words seemed to come out. Eventually, Yuuri muttered, “Mrs. Nikiforov,” before his clear eye glazed back over, he dropped Mari's wrist, and started talking as if holding a one-sided conversation with Victor. 

Mari ran into their parents’ room and rapidly explained what she had walked in on. Remembering what Asya had mentioned during their last phone call, Hiroko and Toshiya ran back into Yuuri's room. As Toshiya tried to talk to Yuuri, Hiroko grabbed the phone and dialed. As the phone continued to ring, she panicked. 

“Toshiya, no one is answering!”

“Didn't they mention it was their anniversary coming up soon? They were planning on going to...oh, what was it called. Poke-, Pat-, uhh...”

“Palkin! I'll try to find the number. You guys keep trying to get through to Yuuri.”

After some frantic internet searching, Hiroko dialed the restaurant’s listed number.

“Privet, i spasibo, chto pozvonili Palkin. Kak ya mogu pomoch' vam etim vecherom?”

“I'm sorry, but do you have anyone that speaks English?”

“I do ma'am. How may I help you?”

“I'm looking for a Pyotr and Asya Nikiforov. They had mentioned going to your restaurant this evening, and I was wondering if they were there. There's been a family emergency.”

“One moment, ma'am. I'm going to put you on hold while I check our guest list.”

After a minute, the man returned. 

“I just wanted to let you know that yes, they are here. I'm going to put you back on hold while I go find them. May I ask who is calling so I can give them a name?”

“Tell them Hiroko is calling. And thank you.”

“Of course, Hiroko. Please hold on for one moment.”

After what felt like an eternity, the hold music stopped, and a familiar voice came through.

“Hiroko, it's rather late for you all, is everything ok? We were told you were on the line with an emergency.”

“Asya, where is Victor?”

“I...dropped him off at a friends house. One of his classmates was having a slumber party for their birthday, which coincided perfectly with our anniversary dinner. Why? What's going on?”

“Yuuri has the same clouded eyes you mentioned the last time you called. Mari came and got us, saying Yuuri was calling out for Victor, one eye suddenly cleared and he asked for you, then went back to non-responsive to anyone.”

“Is he still just sitting there?”

“Yes! I don't know what to do!”

“Give me a minute, ok? I'm going to see if they'll let us use another phone to call the parents holding the slumber party, and make sure that Victor is ok. Hopefully, if we can tell him that Victor is safe, it'll snap him out of it. Hold on just a second, ok?”

Hiroko heard the sounds of muffled, frantic Russian, a moment of yelling, and then the hold music came back on. She looked over at the rest of her family, but Toshiya and Mari seemed unsuccessful in rousing Yuuri. She felt a tear fall down her cheek as she watched her son’s face contort more and more with fear and desperation with every passing minute.

When Asya returned to the call, she sounded winded.

“Hiroko...please hold the phone out to Yuuri. I need to try and talk to him.”

“Asya, what happened?! What's wrong?!”

“Victor is...missing. They said they went to check on everyone, and he wasn't there. His clothes, his toiletries, his backpack...everything is gone. If there's any way that Yuuri could help and respond, I need to try.”

“O-Of course!” There was a pause before Hiroko spoke again. “Here. You're on speaker as loud as it can go.”

“Yuuri?” Asya's voice filled the room. “Yuuri, it's Victor's mom. Victor is missing. Do you know anything? Can you see anything?”

After several moments of tense silence, the fog in Yuuri's eye cleared again, but there was no focus. After a minute, Yuuri started to blink rapidly, before the one eye started darting around. At the sound of her voice again, he slowly turned his head to look down at the phone in front of him.

“M-Mrs. Ni-Nikiforov?”

“Yes, Yuuri, it's me. Are you ok?”

“Victor is scared. Victor is alone. All the creepy men keep staring.”

“What creepy men, Yuuri? What do you see?”

“He's getting off a bus. He's walking really fast, but he keeps looking back. One of the guys from the bus got off and is walking behind him.”

“Can you hear anything?”

“No, nothing. Just Victor breathing.”

“Hiroko, get a pen, now. Yuuri, what do you see now? Any signs? Anything specific?”

“No, Victor just keeps looking at the ground and back to see if the guy is still following him. The guy is still behind him.”

Once Hiroko returned with a pen, Asya continued.

“I need one of you to write on Yuuri's arm. I need you to write that Yuuri can see what's happening, and that he needs to keep moving, but to find a brightly lit, public spot. But he also needs to look around so we can figure out where he is.”

Hiroko handed off the pen to her husband, and Toshiya quickly began writing. Hiroko and Mari helped hold Yuuri's dead arm out flat to make writing easier.

“He looked at his arm. He saw the writing. But now everything is getting blurry. I think...I think Victor is crying. He's looking around now, but I can't read anything!”

Yuuri continued alternating his focus between what he saw in his room and what he saw through Victor's eyes before his posture stiffened.

“Oh! Do you have convenience stores in Russia? I see the numbers 7 and 11, but can't read the writing under it.”

“Yes! That's perfect. Tell him to go there. We'll tell him what to do next once he's safe inside.”

*****

Victor felt the pressure on his arm return. He glanced back at the man still following him, before looking back down at the new words on his arm.

_ Go to 7-11. _

Victor twisted for one last look, before turning and running into the small store. He speed-walked into the first aisle and crouched. He felt his body shake as he tried to contain his tears.

He sat quietly sniffling before the pressure returned.

_ Go to cashier. Ask her to call police. Tell police to be subtle, that a strange man outside store is following you. _

As soon as Victor finished reading, the words smeared, then vanished. Soon, more words filled his arm.

_ We have your mom on the phone, you're not alone, but we need to make sure you're safe and won't be followed. Get the police. _

Victor tried to stand, but his legs were weak as he started to crash from the panic and adrenaline high he had been on. He tried a few more times before he slumped to the ground. Giving up on standing, he waved his arms until the cashier noticed. He did his best to wave her over, and she eventually got the hint, rounding the counter and walked up, crouching beside him.

“Well, hello there. What can I help you with young man?”

“Umm...I-I'm lost, a-a-and I'm trying to get h-ho-home, but th-the scary man o-outside followed me off the b-bus, s-so could you call the police?”

The cashier frowned.

“What man?”

“T-The one in the d-d-dark jeans and b-black hoodie.”

The cashier stood and looked out the glass pane windows. She saw a man dressed in dark clothes, sticking to the shadows and alcoves of neighboring buildings. She glanced back down at Victor. 

“I think I see him. Are you sure he's following you?”

“Y-Y-Yes. I w-was trying to g-get home, b-but it's m-my parents anni-anniversary and they're out g-getting a f-fancy di-di-dinner, so I-I-I had to take the b-bus. That guy a-a-and some other m-men were on the b-bus behind me. Th-They kept trying to t-t-touch my hair a-a-and t-tell me how s-soft and pr-pretty it was. I g-got scared when they w-wouldn't leave me alone, s-so I got off a-at a r-random stop. B-B-But he also g-got off and n-n-now he's not leaving!”

The cashier glanced back outside at the man, who was pacing back and forth on the other side of the street, periodically glancing towards the store. She frowned again. _ Sleazebag _. She looked back to Victor and gave him a soft smile.

“How about this? You go grab your favorite candies and bring them back to me at the counter, ok? And while you're searching, I'll call the police. Then we can try to figure out how to contact your parents while we wait. Does that sound ok?”

“R-Really? O-Oh, ok! Th-Thank you!”

The cashier started to walk back to the register, but Victor grabbed her pant legs.

“O-Oh, wait! I-I'm supposed to tell y-you to tell the police to be subtle b-because he's f-following me. I-I'm not sure why, b-but um, yeah.”

The cashier gave him an odd look, but nodded, before walking towards the phone.

Victor's head felt fuzzy as he tried to stay calm with everything happening. He heard the cashier talking and mention “young boy” and “man stalking”, but couldn't process the other words as he numbly searched the shelves. Once he had grabbed his favorites, he walked up to the cash register. He placed his items on the counter and tried to force a smile.

“Oh hun, don't worry about putting on a brave face. You found yourself in a scary situation, but you were very brave. You don't have to worry about smiling if you don't feel like it.”

Victor let his smile drop, but felt a bit lighter, knowing he wasn't alone.

“Um, do you mind if I go sit back where I was. I don't feel comfortable standing where he can see me.”

“Of course. Just stay where I can see you, ok? The police said they are on their way, so it shouldn't be much longer.”

“Thank you.”

“But hey, before you go sit, I wanted to ask about getting ahold of your parents. Do you know the name of the restaurant they went to? I could try to find the number and see if a waiter or someone could find them.”

Victor paused, thinking for a moment, before he felt pressure on his arm. He glanced down and saw letters appearing.

_ Still on phone with your mom. Ask for address, and they'll come to you. _

“Do you have a pen I could borrow?”

The cashier grabbed a pen from a jar.

“Here, will this one be ok?”

“Yeah, thanks. And, um, what's the address here?”

The cashier rummaged through a drawer, and pulled out some old ads.

“Here, the address is down here at the bottom. But what about your parents? Do you want me to try calling for you?”

“No, this will be enough. Thanks though!”

The cashier stared for a moment, baffled, but forced herself to drop it. _ The cops should be here soon. He might not trust me, especially after the night he's had, so I'll just let them handle it. _

Victor sat back down in the aisle, and copied the address onto his other arm. He sat and stared, waiting for anything to change.

_ Got it. They're paying, then they'll be on their way. _

Victor felt his eyes start to water as relief coursed through his entire body. The relief was short lived though at the sound of the door sliding open and the automatic bell chiming. Victor felt his breath start to speed up, his heart raced, and he did everything he could to be small and not noticed. 

Two large, muscled men passed by. One glanced down at Victor's shaking form, but both continued to walk towards the counter. They spoke in hushed tones to the cashier and showed her something from their pockets. After a moment, she nodded, and gestured in Victor's direction. His tears restarted, but now in despair, as the two men started walking towards him. He held his breath as one passed by, and the other stopped right in front of him, but faced away from Victor. Victor watched as the man touched and gazed at the items on the shelves, slowly looking lower and lower. Once he was squatting, he turned. Victor quietly yelped, but the man leaned back and a soft smile spread across his face.

“Hey, kiddo. My name is Ivan. That man over there is my partner, Lev. We're with the police. That nice lady over there said you had some scary guy try to touch you and followed you off a bus. Is that true?”

Victor nodded.

“Well, we're here to help stop that guy ok? Can you describe him to me?”

“Uhmm...not really. He and the other guys were behind me, and when we got off the bus, he had his hood up, so I couldn't see his face. All I could tell was dark jeans and a black hoodie.”

“I see him” muttered Lev. “He's trying to stay out of the street lights, but he's across the street. Pacing.”

“Got it. Now Victor, we're going to go try to talk to him, but first, we need to contact your parents so they can come get you. The lady over there said you told her they were out to dinner. Do you know where they went?”

Victor shook his head.

“No, I don't remember. But they're on their way, so you don't have to worry about that.”

Ivan looked flabbergasted.

“But...if you don't know where they are, how do they know where to come find you?”

“They were talking to my soulmate and his family. The lady over the gave me the address, I told my Yuuri, and they told my parents.”

Now both cops were openly staring.

“You have...”

“...a soulmate?”

“Yup. See?”

Victor held out his arms to show the remnants of the previous conversations. Ivan and Lev seemed sceptical, so Victor scribbled on his left arm, then held out his right. After a few moments, the writing on his right arm vanished, then more appeared.

_ I didn't know what all you were saying, but I understood the names. Hi Lev and Ivan. I'm Victor's soulmate. Please keep him safe. _

After a pause of silence, Ivan spoke up.

“Well, ok then. I've never seen something like that happen. How about this. While we take care of that guy, you have to promise to listen to the cashier over there, ok? She's in charge until your parents arrive. Understood?”

“Yes, sir. And...thank you.”

Ivan chuckled and ruffled Victor's hair.

“No problem, kiddo.”

“Ivan,” Lev called, “he’s looking skittish. We need to go now.”

Ivan and Lev grabbed a few items, paid, then walked out the door. Victor poked his head around to watch, but got scared and pulled back. A quick whistle got his attention as the cashier waved at Victor. He darted towards the end of the counter, where she held a small swinging door open.

“Here, I got a small chair you can sit in. That way you're back here, safe with me.”

Victor thanked her and sat on the seat. He opened some of his candy and occupied his time with eating, and looking at everything behind the counter.

Suddenly, sirens went off as a floodlight lit up the road, and soon, the entire view from the store windows was filled with cop cars and flashing lights.

Not long after, Victor's parents came bursting through the door.

“Victor?!”

Victor leapt out of his chair and ran into their arms.

“Mама, папа!”

The Nikiforovs sank to the floor in a group hug, Victor bubbly and excited to see them, while his parents were barely holding back sobs.

* * * * *

Yuuri suddenly collapsed forward.

“Yuuri!!”

Everyone lunged to catch him before he tumbled onto the floor. Toshiya gently shook Yuuri's shoulders.

“Yuuri? Yuuri! What happened?”

Yuuri placed his hands on his bed and rested for a moment, before pushing himself up to sit on his heels. Both eyes were now clear.

“I...he...his parents. I saw Victor running to his parents, and then everything went black, and I was awake here.”

“So he's safe?”

“I think so. I saw lots of police. Do you think that's why I stopped seeing through Victor's eyes? Because he wasn't in danger anymore?”

Hiroko pulled Yuuri into a tight hug.

“I honestly don't know. No one knows for sure how your bond with Victor works, you know that. All I can say is I'm glad you were able to help him. I don't want to even imagine what would've happened if he had actually been alone.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. 

* * * * *

Two weeks later, Yuuri ran into his parents’ room.

“Mom, dad. Victor wrote and said we needed to check our email. He said his mom sent something important, but she didn't tell him what.”

Hiroko rose from the bed, and walked to their computer. She refreshed her email, and saw a subject-less email, with a link being the only content. She clicked on the link, and was directed to a Russian news website that offered articles in both Russian and English. She clicked on the link for the English translation, then slapped her hands over her mouth as she cried out.

**MEMBERS OF ONE OF RUSSIA'S BIGGEST CHILD TRAFFICKING RINGS CAUGHT AND ARRESTED**

xx/xx/xxxx

Police have just released a statement saying that after several years of investigation, one of Russia's biggest child trafficking groups has been brought down.

Police say two weeks ago, they were finally able to apprehend a mid-level member that had been attempting to kidnap a young boy. The boy, whose identity has been kept secret for safety reasons, was able to escape into a local convenience store, where he hid until the cashier that night was able to call the police. Unwilling to risk losing a lead, two plain-clothed officers entered the store to assess the situation before returning outside to confront the subject, who had apparently been lingering across the street, waiting for the young boy to re-emerge.

Click to read more 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Potential trigger warning*  
Small child Victor tries to find his way home alone and is harassed and touched (just his hair, nothing seriously inappropriate) on a bus by creepy older men, and one follows him off the bus and stalks him through the streets of Saint Petersburg. Through their developing bond, Yuuri and both sets of parents are able to help Victor get to safety and the cops are called, and Victor narrowly misses being taking into a child trafficking ring.


	3. Making Life Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor tries to make plans...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's the final chapter. Thank you to everyone that read this. I hope you've enjoyed!

** _9 -> 21/5 -> 17_ **

As the years passed, Victor and Yuuri's bond only grew stronger.

After the near kidnapping incident, the Nikiforovs invited the entire Katsuki family to visit, both to thank them and to finally let the two boys meet in person. Victor had been overly excited all day, whereas Yuuri had been an anxious mess. Neither was sure what to expect from their soulmate, but expectations were high.

As soon as Victor saw the family pass through security at the airport, he sprinted towards them, his hair whipping around behind him. As soon as he saw Yuuri emerge from behind his parents, he threw himself at Yuuri, wrapping his arms tightly around Yuuri's shoulders, and shoved his face into Yuuri's neck.

“Yuuri! I'm so happy to finally meet you!”

Yuuri had gone still the moment Victor practically tackled him, and Yuuri's family waited anxiously, wondering if the sudden intrusion into his personal space would cause him to panic. Amazingly, after the first few tense moments, Yuuri's entire body relaxed, and he slowly wrapped his arms around Victor's torso.

“It's nice to finally meet you too, Victor.”

The boys had been absolutely inseparable during the trip. Victor showed Yuuri the many scrapbooks of pictures and letters he had saved. They played and goofed around like normal children, something that was a relief to Asya. She had noticed that Victor had been slightly on edge ever since his close encounter, so to see him relaxed and able to act like a child was wonderful.

On their last night together, Victor handed Yuuri a small, poorly wrapped box.

“Victor, what's this?”

“It's a present, silly. Open it!”

Yuuri easily ripped open the wrapping and pulled out a small wooden plaque. The only Cyrillic Yuuri recognized was Victor's name.

“What's this?”

“It's the award I got after the police took down the group of people that tried to kidnap me. It says it's to award my bravery and quick thinking, since that night gave them their first big clue in finding those people. But I never felt right having it. If I had been alone, who knows what would've happened. I was panicking most of the time. The real bravery was from you. You didn't just see what was happening, like what I had been able to do previously. You were able to watch  _ and _ talk to my parents. You saved me, Yuuri. You're my hero, and the real brave one. So I wanted to give it to you, because you deserve it more than me.”

Yuuri's eyes darted back and forth between the plaque and Victor.

“A-Are you sure? This seems really important.”

“Of course I'm sure! You're my soulmate, Yuuri! If I could, I'd give you everything you ever wanted, just to show you how much I appreciate you and how much you mean to me. Unfortunately, I don't have a very big allowance, so I hoped this would be ok instead.”

Yuuri hugged the plaque to his chest as his eyes watered.

“Well then, thank you Victor. I promise I'll take really good care of it!”

The Katsukis left the next day, Victor's young town hero plaque safely packed away amongst Yuuri's clothes.

* * * * *

Around two years later, Yuuri and Victor had both learned to have full dual awareness when seeing from the other’s perspective. It was something they had determined was only possible when the other was about to get into some sort of trouble. It didn't matter how big or how small the problem. They spent countless hours debating how they were able to start seeing  _ before _ issues arose, but they eventually gave up. It was weird, but they would never want to give up the ability.

Along with the writing, the injuries, and the visions came an emotional and telepathic bond. Feelings and thoughts were heard and felt by the other. At first, it was uncontrollable, and one more than one occasion, had caused massive mood swings as they went from feeling their own emotions to feeling the others’. But eventually, they were able to separate which things they kept to themselves and which they shared through their bond. It wasn't perfect. A few stray thoughts and emotions slipped through periodically, but it was much better than before.

By the time Victor was getting ready to graduate high school, he was beginning to have a mini existential crisis. As they had grown older, Victor had fallen in love with Yuuri. Yuuri had admitted that he loved Victor as well, but due to Yuuri's younger age, Victor wasn't sure if he truly meant it. Even so, Victor swore to be supportive and there for Yuuri, no matter what their relationship ended up being. If Yuuri wanted to change their relationship to something more romantic and sexual, Victor would not be opposed. But if Yuuri wanted to simply be together as something as simple as roommates, Victor would comply with Yuuri's wishes. He would do whatever it took to keep Yuuri close in his life.

But with no special talents or skills, Victor was unsure of what he could do to support Yuuri. He knew he was smart, graduating as one of the top in his class, but how could he be a strong and supportive provider if he racked up debt in student loans for college? And if he decided not to continue his education, how could he earn a decent living at a mediocre job? After talking with his parents and asking around at school, Victor decided to join the Russian Navy after high school. That way, he could have a steady job, benefits, and would be able to do most of the newbie grunt work while Yuuri was still in school. Then, as he rose in the ranks, he could work towards better jobs in better locations, and would therefore not be forced away from Yuuri for as long. Eventually, he could retire and have a, albeit small, constant source of income for the rest of their lives.

Yuuri had been worried about Victor going into war, but Victor had assured him that he wouldn't be on the front lines. Instead, Victor signed up to work on nuclear reactors on submarines. Every other job described by the recruiter had seemed trivial, whereas the nuclear job seemed like it would good at keeping his mind stimulated.

Bootcamp had been grueling. His long, silver hair had been buzzed near his scalp. The amount of physical activity was far beyond what he had done before joining. And it seemed everyone was watching, waiting to scream in his face about the slightest mistake.

His military schooling was even worse. The amount of knowledge he was forced to learn was paced insanely fast. The only positive thing was that he was finally able to grow some of his hair back, and if he styled it just right, he could hide the length he had been growing back out.

In two short years, the military deemed him qualified enough to operate a functioning nuclear reactor.

Yuuri kept their soulmate interactions to a minimum. He didn't want people pestering Victor about why things were appearing on his skin, why he was constantly distracted or not focused on the task at hand, or why he was sustaining injuries for no apparent reason. The military had never asked Victor if he had a soulmate, and so they decided to keep it a secret. Any mention of Yuuri was done as merely a normal crush.

But that didn't stop Victor from drawing small hearts or writing quick words of love and encouragement whenever he was alone.

* * * * *

There were no maneuvers happening, no war games planned, so the plant was holding steady at critical while the sub cruised around the ocean to their next tactical position. With nothing to do at the time but watch water tank levels, Victor rolled up his sleeves and started doodling random shapes and designs on his upper arms, wondering if any of his miscellaneous scribbles were making Yuuri smile.

Suddenly, he felt the prolonged pressure that always accompanied sentences on his forearm.

_ Where are you now? _

_ On watch. _

_ Oh, I'm sorry! I won't disturb you! _

_ No, it's fine. We're not doing anything. Not taking on water. Have my important tanks on a float. Literally doing nothing. Save me, I'm bored. _

_ Well...I finally landed my triple axel today. It was pretty - _

“Nikiforov! What the hell are you doing?!”

Victor's head snapped up to see his watch supervisor glaring daggers at his arms. Victor quickly rolled his sleeves down, but his sup grabbed his wrist and shoved the sleeve back up. His sup's face gaze grew more and more deadly as he read the conversation.

“Nikiforov...what is...what is this. Why are you writing conversations on your arm?

“I-uh-I was just, um -”

“Nikiforov...do you...do you have...a soulmate?”

“Um, yes?”

“Is that a question or an answer Nikiforov?!”

“Yes, sorry. Yes, I do have a soulmate.”

His sup dropped his arm and stalked over to the phone and shoved his head in the hear-here booth. After a few moments, he slammed the phone back on the receiver and stomped back over to Victor, seething.

“You. You will stand where I can watch you, and you will write on nothing but your logs. Then, when our reliefs get here, you will follow me to the CO's office. You will not speak to anyone. You will not look at anyone. Do I make myself clear?”

Victor gulped.

“Y-Yes, sir.”

About 5 minutes later, their watch reliefs had arrived. Victor signed out of the logs with shaking hands, then silently followed his watch sup out if the plant. They marched down the narrow hallways, then came to a stop in front of the CO's door. The watch sup knocked.

“Who is it.”

“Kuznetsov, here with Nikiforov, sir.”

The door opened, and Victor was dragged inside. The CO kept a neutral face at the manhandling.

“Well Kuznetsov, what is it? What is so important that I be dragged out of my rack to speak with you.”

“Nikiforov has a soulmate.”

The following silence was deafening. The CO's eyes grew wide as his gaze slid over to Victor.

“Nikiforov, you...have a soulmate?”

Victor nodded, and showed the CO what was on his arms.

“Well Nikiforov, tell me about them.”

“Yes sir. Um, his name is Yuuri Katsuki. He's 17, a senior in high school in Japan. He -”

Victor flinched and stopped talking as the CO slammed his hand against his desk.

“Stop! Stop right there. Did you just say he's Japanese?”

“Yes...sir.”

The CO's face was suddenly filled with rage.

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! ARE YOU AN IDIOT?!”

Victor squeaked and tried to lean away from the anger radiating from the man in front of him.

“N-No s-sir!”

“OH, SO YOU THINK YOU MUST BE A GODDAMN GENIUS THEN?!”

“N-No, not that either...sir!”

“FUCKING SHIT NIKIFOROV! YOU WORK ON A SUBMARINE! OUR MISSIONS ARE CLASSIFIED! OUR LOCATIONS ARE CLASSIFIED! THE MATERIAL YOU WORK WITH EVERY DAY IS CLASSIFIED! AND YOU DON'T SEE HOW IT COULD BE A CONCERN THAT YOU HAVE SUCH AN EASY WAY TO POTENTIALLY PASS ON SAID CLASSIFIED INFORMATION TO A FOREIGNER?! A JAPANESE FOREIGNER?!”

Victor's eyes bulged as he realized what the CO was implying.

“No! I...I would never!” Victor began to shake in fear. “I would never share any important information! One, Yuuri isn't like that! And two, I'm far too scared of getting in trouble to do something like betray my country!”

“Well how the flying fuck am I supposed to know that for sure?! I don't know what you can and can't do. I don't know if you have complete control over your fucking soulmate bond or whatever the hell you call it. You're a liability Nikiforov! How did that not register in your head?!”

“No one ever asked me sir! I assumed that since it wasn't a question asked when determining my qualification that it wasn't too important. I...I realize now how ridiculous that sounds when we're always so strict with access and clearances, but I swear I didn't think it relevant at the time!”

The CO sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Nikiforov, effective immediately, you are relieved from duty. Your clearance will be suspended, and until we make it into our next port, you will work in the galley. Once we reach port, you will be transferred off my submarine, and will be flown back to Severomorsk. There, you will be put into TPU while we conduct an investigation to determine the validity of what you just stated. You will do grunt work. You will clean and drill and exercise because you will not be allowed to do anything else. What happens after that depends on the findings of our investigation. Now, hand over your TLD and report to the galley. You will sit there until we are done updating the chow boss of your new...responsibilities. You are dismissed.”

That night, as Victor laid in his rack, he felt an overwhelming amount of guilt and sadness. It didn't take long for him to realize he was drowning in Yuuri's negative emotions. Not wanting to leave more potentially incriminating ink on his skin, he tried to reach out through his thoughts, but was getting no response.

_ Yuuri, I don't know why you're feeling so upset. But please, talk to me. I don't know how to help if you won’t talk to me and let me know what you're thinking. Please! _

Victor kept thinking to Yuuri, trying to coax a response out of him. Eventually, his cajoling worked.

_ I-I'm s-sorry, Victor! _

_ Sorry? Sorry for what? _

_ You got in trouble because you were talking to me! And now, even though they have no proof of any wrongdoing, they could still convict you of being a spy or treason! I might never see you again if they throw you in jail! _

_ Whoa, whoa, wait, Yuuri. How did you know about that? _

_ I saw it! For some reason, I was able to watch through your eyes from the moment that guy caught you writing to me. I saw everything until you sat down in the kitchen area. _

Victor flinched, realizing all the yelling and vulgarities had been seen by Yuuri. Yuuri, who wasn't used to the environment that developed among people trapped in a large metal tube under the ocean. Yes, his chain of command had been legitimately pissed off, and yes, he could get in serious trouble, but the yelling was also partially out of concern for the vulnerable position Victor had put himself in.

_ Oh Yuuri, don't think that. It was entirely my own fault. I was the one writing to you on watch. I was the one that never disclosed the fact that I had a soulmate. None of this is your fault. As for the treason accusation, they'll probably interrogate me, and see if I slip up and admit to something bad. But I'm not worried about that. I haven't leaked any classified material to you. They have no way to catch me in a lie since I'll be telling the truth. So please, I know it'll be hard, but try not to worry too much. We can't write to each other anymore, but we still have our thoughts, ok? _

There was a long moment of silence while Victor waited for Yuuri to think about what he said.

_ O-Ok, if you're sure. I mean, I'm still gonna worry, and I still think this is at least partially my fault, but I trust you. If you have faith that everything will be ok, then I will do my best to think the same. _

* * * * *

Victor spent the rest of his deployment cooking and washing dishes. It was mundane, repetitive work, but it gave him more time to think about his future. What he would do with his life depending on what the military decided to do with him. It was another long 4 months before they hit their next port call. While all the other crew members were getting ready to hit the town, Victor was packing up all his belongings. Once they docked, they waited until everyone else had left for liberty before Victor was allowed to depart. He was escorted to the nearest airport, where a military plane awaited him. Several hours later, his belongings were stored in his new room.

_ Well, at least I'm guaranteed to have my own bed. It'll be nice not to have to worry about hot-racking anymore. _

* * * * *

Victor spent 3 long months under court martial. They questioned him for hours on end, strapped him into every variety of a lie detector the military owned, called in several deception researchers and microexpression experts, and generally harassed Victor in an attempt to make him fumble with his story.

True to his word, Victor's story never changed. In telling the truth, he had no problems keeping his facts straight. By the time a verdict had been reached, the military found there was no evidence to suggest that Victor had acted in any way unbecoming a sailor. However, due to keeping his soulmate a secret, though not done maliciously, it was decided that Victor would be separated from the military. While they weren't as concerned about what Victor would purposely do, they were concerned about what could happen unintentionally. The fact that information could accidentally be slipped to Victor's soulmate by overhearing a conversation or by reading something not meant for outsider eyes was concerning to those in charge.

Victor was given a general (under honorable conditions) discharge, so that his civilian record would not be negatively impacted, and was given 30 days to file all the necessary paperwork and determine what to do with his life before he was officially separated.

Victor fell into a mild depression as he was processed out. All his hopes and plans for providing for Yuuri had vanished in an instant. He knew he could still find decent work, but his training hadn't prepared him for much other than various power plants and data centers. And with no retirement, he wouldn't be able to find a simple job that both paid the bills and was something he'd enjoy doing.

Once he hit his 30 days, Victor packed his belongings and took a flight home to his parents. They welcomed him with open arms, but the feeling of being a failure and now a burden weighed heavily on his mind.

Unfortunately, his feelings were so strong that he unconsciously leaked them through his bond with Yuuri.

After being contacted by a very concerned Yuuri, Victor's parents decided to find a way to cheer Victor up. One day, when everyone was available and in a decent mood, Pyotr and Asya silently hustled Victor into the car. Victor kept asking where they were going, but his parents refused to give him any sort of answer. Eventually, they pulled into the parking lot of a very nondescript building. Glancing around, Victor finally saw the sign.

**Санкт-Петербург Гуманное Общество**

Saint Petersburg Humane Society

* * * * *

Victor ended up going home with a small bundle of wiggly joy in the form of a young poodle. He and Yuuri spent the evening mentally brainstorming names, when Victor thought of ‘Makkachin’. Yuuri had been curious as to where the name idea came from, but Victor didn't know. He knew it sounded like gibberish, but it seemed to fit. And when he looked at the poodle and said the same aloud, she barked and wagged her tail so hard her entire butt wiggled back and forth.

Makkachin wasn't the ultimate cure to his problems, but at night when his thoughts got away from him, he had someone that he could cuddle and cry onto, someone that cleaned away his tears with wet, sloppy kisses, and who listened to his worries without judgement. 

* * * * *

“Yuuri, you need to calm down.”

“No mom, I can't! I know he has Makka to cheer him up, but when he's alone with his thoughts, he still goes to a dark place. And I know he said it wasn't my fault, but I still feel so bad. Even if I didn't do anything specifically, my presence in his life caused this to happen. If I...if I wasn't in his life, none of this would've happened.”

Hiroko sighed and shuffled closer, enveloping her son in a big hug.

“Yuuri, you realize that the only reason he was in the military was to try and provide for you, right? To give you guys a future that was more financially secure, even if only a little. It's not like this incident crushed his hopes and dreams of making it to some high ranking officer position. He has you and Makkachin to comfort him now. He just needs time to properly adjust his mindset.”

“I know, I know. I just...I wish there was something more I could do for him. I don't want all the responsibility to fall on him, just because he's older. I want to be his equal in our relationship. But...what can I do? I wish I could think of something that would cheer him up for...forever. I hate feeling him when he gets so upset.”

“You're a smart boy Yuuri. I'm sure you'll think of something.”

* * * * *

“Hey, Mari, did you ever want to do anything more with your life? I mean, was working at the onsen all you ever wanted?”

“Yuuri, not everyone has grand ambitions like you. I'm perfectly happy running the onsen with mom and dad. I'm not excited about when the time finally comes and I have to do all the paperwork too, but it's something I'll deal with. It might not be exciting, but keeping this place alive, being able to stay in the place where I grew up, and having plenty of spare time to visit my friends is all I've ever needed to be more than satisfied with my life.”

* * * * *

“Mom, dad, I wanted to ask you about something…”

* * * * *

Victor was curled up in his bed. It had been a rough day emotionally, and he was exhausted. His eyes started to droop until he felt pressure on his arm. Not wanting to dredge up feelings of failure by reading proof of Yuuri's never-ending kindness and understanding, he ignored the sensation, and tried to resume falling asleep. However, after what felt like the entirety of his arm had been covered, the pressure continued on his torso. Victor tried his best to ignore it, but soon, he felt the pressure move to his legs. Shocked at the sheer amount Yuuri seemed to be writing, Victor pulled himself upright and started scanning over what Yuuri wrote.

_ Victor, can we talk? _

_ Victor, I had something I wanted to ask you. _

_ I love you. _

_ Your problems aren't yours to bear alone. I'm your soulmate, so we're in this together. _

_ I have an idea I'd like to run past you. _

_ Victor, I need to talk to you. It's nothing bad I promise. _

_ Whatever happens, just know that I'll always be there with you. _

Seeing the sheer amount of text scribbled across his body, Victor reached out to Yuuri's mind.

_ Ok, ok, I'm here. I'm sorry I wasn't responding. Today wasn't a good day. _

Suddenly, the feeling of writing stopped.

_ Victor! Hi! Have you read what I wrote? _

_ I glanced at it all. _

_ Yeah, sorry, I know it's a lot, but I really wanted to get your attention. _

_ Well you have it. And you said you had something to talk to me about? _

_ I do. And while it only really involves you, I'd like to talk to you and your parents. Could we do a Skype call? _

_ Uh, ok. Sure. Kinda odd and cryptic, but I'm sure you have your reasons. _

_ I do, I swear. I just hope you'll be open to my proposition. _

_ I guess we'll see. Did you want to call now, or...? _

_ Now would be preferred, if you're all available. _

_ I'll go check. _

Victor walked out to the living room to find his parents lounging in their recliners.

“Hey, are you guys busy? Yuuri said he had something he wanted to talk to us about, and asked if we could get on Skype. Like now.”

Pyotr looked up from his newspaper, and glanced over at his wife.

“I'm ok to call now. Asya?”

“I'm free. Shall we?”

As Victor went back to his room to fetch his laptop, he sent Yuuri a quick thought that they were getting online. He then plopped himself between his parents on their couch. Victor logged in to Skype, and waited for Yuuri to get on as well.

Almost immediate after Yuuri got online, Victor's screen popped up with a request to video chat. Victor accepted the call, and was surprised to see not only Yuuri, but the entire Katsuki family sitting in view of the camera.

Yuuri smiled and waved.

“Hi Victor. Hi Mr. and Mrs. Nikiforov. How are you guys?”

“I've been better” Victor responded honestly. Asya followed him up with “We're good, but definitely curious to know what brought up this call. Not that we're not happy to see you guys, but to involve both families is a bit different than normal.”

“I agree, and I'm sorry if it's weird. But I wanted everyone involved to be able to have an opinion, even though what I want to talk about only directly concerns Victor.”

“Well consider us intrigued.”

“Ok, so first off, the reason mom, dad, and Mari are here is to tell you guys that they're ok with my idea if you guys are. I didn't want you to have any reasons to be concerned, at least on our end. And this way they can easily answer any questions.”

The Nikiforov's glanced at each other with mild confusion, but turned back to the screen.

“That's...not concerning per se, but...I don't know how to describe it. Well, whatever. What's this idea Yuuri?”

“I was wondering if Victor would like to come live with us in Hasetsu.”

All three Nikiforov jaws dropped.

“So hear me out. Victor, I know you've been upset because you feel like your one chance of securing our future didn't pan out. But there's more than one route your life can take. And you don't have to bear sole responsibility. I'm your soulmate. Like I've said before, we're in this together.

“I've been wondering what I wanted to do after graduating. I had several ideas, but nothing seemed to really appeal to me. But then I overheard mom and dad talking about how they haven't been able to take a long vacation in a while, and I got to thinking. What if the next generation took over the onsen. Being eldest and having spent more time working here, I knew Mari would be the first choice. But after talking with her, she admitted she had no qualms about taking over, but wasn't looking forward to the business aspect of it all. She's more content just doing housekeeping type activities. And numbers have always been something that came naturally to me.

“Several of the colleges I've been accepted into have great business programs, and I figured I could get my degree in that. And Victor could run it with me. He's definitely more outgoing and personable than myself or Mari -” Mari grumbled and looked away. “- so he could easily fit in here and have a role in this place all to himself. A way for him to provide something that the two of us are severely lacking in.

“So yeah, my grand idea was that Victor could move here, start learning the in's and out's of running and maintaining the onsen from everyone else while I'm away at college. This way he could settle in and establish himself as Victor, not just my soulmate. Plus there's the added benefit of constant access to the only remaining public onsen in our town. And I'm sorry, but no normal bath or hot tub can compare to our hot springs. They can get close, but it's just...not the same. And yeah, I know our town is small, and there's not nearly as much to do as there is in Saint Petersburg, but we have our own forms of excitement. So yeah, I know it's a lot, but what do you think?”

Victor stared at the screen, flabbergasted. In one fell swoop, Yuuri had provided a solution that addressed each of Victor's concerns. Victor felt his throat close up and his eyes started to sting as he tried to hold back his tears.

“What about Makkachin? How well would a poodle fit in at a bathhouse?”

“Makka would be just fine. I know you've trained her well, so she knows how to behave. We've had pets in the past, so we know it's doable. Also, poodles are hypoallergenic, so we wouldn't have to worry about her affecting people with pet allergies. Any other concerns I can settle for you?”

The next hour was spent with all three Nikiforovs asking questions, and all four Katsukis answering when appropriate. Once everyone's questions and concerns had been addressed, Victor sat back and looked between his parents, his eyes glistening. They smiled softly and patted his shoulders and nodded. Victor flung himself onto his parents, squeezing them in the tightest hug he could manage. Once he let go, he turned back to the screen.

“Are you able to pick me up from the airport tomorrow?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so before anyone comes at me, NO, I do NOT in any way, shape, or form, know how the Russian Navy works. I know how my country's Navy works, cuz I was in it, but that's it. So everything that Victor went through is based on things that either happened to me or to people around me.
> 
> Also  
TPU - Transient Personnel Unit. Basically, where they put people that are getting processed out for various reasons...good, bad, or neutral.


End file.
